Looking at your chart on page eight, accommodation and food is maybe around $11 or $12 an hour--this would be an average wage--and retail trade looks to be just over $15 an hour. Again, this would be an average wage, so some would be higher and some would be lower.
I'm thinking about people who are losing their jobs in the manufacturing sector. I had the opportunity to be part of the finance committee yesterday. What we heard there was quite chilling--namely, that the more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs that have been lost so far reflect fiscal conditions of two and three years ago. The incredible rise in the value of the dollar and other factors will have an impact on the manufacturing sector that we will only see over the next couple of years. So while we've had significant job losses, we're about to face much more.
I ask you, given that the average wage in the manufacturing sector is, as you have said, higher than the service sector; given that not only the largest source of employment but the fastest growing sources of employment is in retail; and given that by your own chart here, retail and food and accommodation are among the lowest-paying jobs in the service sector, do you not think it's reasonable to assume that many workers who lose good-paying, secure jobs in the manufacturing sector could be faced with jobs that bear a relatively low wage in the service sector? More importantly, rather than being full-time jobs with benefits, and in many cases pensions, these jobs are precarious jobs, where one can never count on the hours of work. These jobs offer no security or benefits to support the workers or their families.